


From The Beginning Then

by briagate



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Anderson is a Little Shit, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hospitals, I Tried, I don't know, Kid!Lock, Kidlock, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Sorry Not Sorry, hahhahahhahha, happy birthday u little shit :), is this what you consider heavy angst, more gen than m/m so y'all know, redbeard is cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-05-24 14:11:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6156163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briagate/pseuds/briagate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With John by his side, everything is alright.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nighttdust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nighttdust/gifts).



> hey lotti,
> 
> i hope you enjoy this. well, not really. please don't kill me.  
> i had the idea about a month ago and i though i could never finish this. and well i didn't. i'll finish it in the next few days i swear :'D i will upload a chapter daily, except for tomorrow (friday) probably after certain people (*cough* nainelock *cough* spickerzocker *cough* desthiel *cough* (guys check them out on tumblr if you haven't already)) read over the rest. have fun. hmm...
> 
> i love you and i miss you loads!! have a nice birthday!!!! :)
> 
> @all the other readers, please don't kill me.
> 
> EDIT/UPDATE: guys, guess who's sick? :) that's right, me. so i won't update today, probably tomorrow... i'm sorry!!
> 
> EDIT/UPDATE II. (2 days later): okay when i'm able to use a laptop again i'll quickly read over my second chapter and upload it jesus crist i'm sorry guys

He still remembers it as if it had been yesterday.  

 

 

He remembers how unsure he felt when he went through those big doors. To see a dozen pairs of eyes on him made him feel uneasy and made him a bit insecure. Almost all the seats were taken, even though they came more than early. His mom told him everything would be alright and pecked him on his temple before letting go of his hand to take a step towards his teacher. The lady seemed friendly, she wore a skirt and glasses and looked very young in general. Sherlock was sure that she was inexperienced, she looked so naive. But who was he to talk on his first day of school. She smiled at his mother. She seemed very friendly. A certain feeling of well-being settled in his chest.  

 

 

Sherlock turned around once more to face the children that were already seated randomly in the room. Their coats had bright colours, but what he remembered most were the looks on their faces. Some looked happy, some looked kind of arrogant, some were already crying, but most of them looked just as insecure as he felt.  

 

 

His mother called his name from the teachers desk and he turned around.  

 

 

"Sweetie, Mrs. Hudson here is your new teacher. Come say 'Hi!'" 

 

 

Sherlock stumbled over his little boots and held out his hand.  

 

 

"Oh my!" Mrs. Hudson seemed surprised but smiled nonetheless, running her hand through her apple red hair. Wasn't this considered normal, to shake hands? Sherlock had definitely seen his parents do it often enough.  

 

 

"No need to be so polite." Again, a kind smile. She really did seem extremely friendly and Sherlock quickly pulled his hand to his side, looking at the floor, a bit embarrassed.  

 

 

"Okay... Sherlock? Sherlock." He looked up again. "Well, yes, I'm Mrs. Hudson, but you can call me Martha if you want to. Go and take a seat wherever you want to for now, we'll get to meet each other a bit before we decide on an arranged seating order." She pointed at the rest of the class and Sherlock could feel his heart beating fast again, anxiety growing. 

 

 

All the kids in preschool had already thought that he was a bit strange even though he couldn't think of anything that he might have done wrong. He was introverted and congenitally a little genius, which seemed to scare of a lot of kids. A lot of kids teased him and he was determined that something like this would not repeat in school. 

 

 

Walking through the rows of tables, he noticed that there were only a few seats left. He looked at his future classmates and found it a bit amusing to see them all fired up and a excited about where he was going to sit. He randomly picked a free seat and put down his school bag. Not more than five minutes and a lot of laughter heard from his mom and Mrs. Hudson later the last few families entered the room and three children took a seat. When Mrs. Hudson declared that they would start the "first real lesson ever" now, his mom went to his seat and pecked him on the cheek before she left.  

 

 

All the children were supposed to do was sit in a circle and talk about each other's names, likings and plans for the future. Sherlock really didn't get the actual purpose of why they were supposed to do such things but whatever, at least he got to know some nice people who shared his interests. Reading, science. That was pretty much it.  

 

 

Sherlock always thought a lot about what other people said or what they wanted to say, studied their body language even though he was still this young.  

 

 

He had a Delana in his class, she said she liked to keep her books and pencils nice an tidy with a lot of stationery; a guy named Klaus, he looked crazy but said he like dancing a lot; a Luna, she told about her absolutely crazy socks and seemed like a very cheerful person; a girl named Charles that said that she liked computers a lot and her blonde thick hair was fabulous.  

 

 

Of course a lot of others as well, a boy named Anderson looked annoyed by everyone and everything. And he looked kind of stupid too.  

 

 

But then there were these three boys which already purposely sat together from the beginning. They all seemed very confident too, not even a tiny bit nervous. Sherlock's gaze fell onto the one on the left hand side, a little kid with blond fluffy hair. The way he grinned when someone made a joke made the corners of his mouth shoot up. After the first one and a half hours were over, the school bell rang, signalizing that it's break-time now. 

 

 

"Alright, enjoy yourselves! We'll choose a seating order after the break." Mrs. Hudson quickly noted even though half of the class was already halfway through the door. 

 

 

When Sherlock reached the door, he looked around himself. The other children in the class had already formed tiny groups. Sherlock turned away from the view of them entering the schoolyard and walked thought the school corridors, trying to find any other kind of activity he could join. He didn't want to try and approach the other children, he had always been a very shy kid and it was hard for him to approach other people. He quietly walked towards the school library, found himself a nice book and went to one of the red couches to read it. 

 

 

It wasn't a novel about love or school, there were definitely too many of those in Sherlock's opinion. Already completely fascinated about the cover, he took out a book about outer-space. The pretty pictures that showed galaxies and nebulas captivated him.  

 

 

It had been only a few minutes when he heard footsteps approach him and felt a light lift when someone let himself down onto the spot beside him. He looked up from his book to see one of the boys in his class smiling sheepishly at him. It was the boy with the blond locks.  

 

 

"Hey..." he started, voice insecure.   

 

 

"Why didn’t you come outside to play with everyone?" 

 

 

Sherlock swallowed heavily, he felt his tongue stuck in his throat but tried to answer the kind boy nonetheless.  

 

 

"I don't know." he simply answered. He tapped the tips of his boots together in a slow rhythm. 

 

 

He received a confused look from the boy. 

 

 

"I-I don't think they'd like me..." he added."Besides they are already playing with each other and then I would just interrupt them or I don’t know." He got quieter with each word, he just tried to finish the sentence as quickly as possible. 

 

 

Another confused look. "That's not true, you can never know what others think of you until you find out. And I honestly can't understand why you'd think that." The boy lightly pushed his shoulder with his own. He smiled at Sherlock. "I'm John, if you remember." 

 

 

Sherlock's gaze went down to his book again, "Yes, I remember." 

 

 

"So do you want to join us outside? I saw you leave into the opposite direction when break started and I don't want you to be all on your own here or feel left out, you know..." John looked to his shoes, unnoticed by Sherlock. 

 

 

The youngers head shot up and his eyes widened as he felt a strange rush of some sort going down his spine. "Um, well, I'd honestly rather just stay here..." 

 

 

John quickly glanced at him before he got of the couch. Sherlock watched him walk away but quickly looked down at his book again. What was he doing? Staring is rude.   

 

 

Sometimes, Sherlock began questioning himself why he had to be the way he was. Weird. Why he could chase anyone away, just by being himself. Tears began welling up in his eyes. And the first little drops rolled down his cheeks as he felt another next to him. 

 

 

And there John was again, now with a book in his hand. Sherlock quickly sniffed and buried his face in the pages that showed an amazing night sky. Hopefully John hadn't seen him crying. He felt a careful tug on his jacket and looked up. 

 

 

John looked at Sherlock fondly and brought up his hands to swipe the tears of the others cheeks. Sherlock felt a bit empty inside. What was he doing?  

 

 

After smiling softly and calming down Sherlock by telling him that everything was okay, both looked at each other awkwardly and simultaneously turned their heads away to read their books. 

 

 

They spent the rest of the break sitting together quietly. Sherlock kept peeping up from his book occasionally when he felt John shifting in his seat. He became more comfortable with John being around him, even if it took some time. It was a bit awkward too, but somehow that didn't matter at all.  

 

 

Why was John being this way? So nice? Why didn't he go back and play with the other children? A lot of questions and possible answers shot through Sherlock's head, but none of the answers made sense in the end. Whatever.  

 

 

Just before the bell to signal the end of the break would have rang, John spoke up. 

 

 

"We should head back or we'll be late." He closed his book and swung himself of the couch. 

 

 

Sherlock nodded in agreement and followed John silently to both put their books back on the shelves. 

 

 

The walk back to class was quiet. Sherlock continued to glance over to John from time to time. It was hard to find out what he could be thinking. Sometimes, he even caught John looking at him as well before turning his head away abruptly, a cute smile on his lips. The hallway was crowded so John and Sherlock moved together.  

 

 

"You like astronomy?" John asked kindly to break the silence. 

 

 

Sherlock turned his head to see the other better. The hallway was now full of children that wanted to hurry back to class and kind of pushed him with them into the opposite direction. Luckily a hand grabbed his to pull him close and drag him along. He looked at John's hand and remembered he had asked him something. 

 

 

"Yes, I guess..." he mumbled. 

 

 

"That's awesome." Sherlock saw him grinning.  

 

 

"I don't know that much about astronomy. The only thing I know is how a telescope works, not the stars and things like that. My family and I always go stargazing in summer, you know." 

 

 

Sherlock's ears shot up. John seemed like a really friendly boy. And he liked stargazing. What an amazing person, Sherlock thought. 

 

 

Both reached the classroom in time and sat down on their previous seats. They decided that it would probably be nice to sit next to each other and convinced Mrs. Hudson to seat them next to each other.  

 

 

 

*  

 

 

 

 

Sherlock noticed a lot in the first few weeks of school.  

 

 

He was bored a lot in class, always having to wait almost an entire hour for the others to finish a simple task that he had done in not more than three minutes. At least the breaks weren't so boring. With John of course. Both always jumped a little when the bell rang, grabbed their lunch boxes simultaneously and ran of into the courtyard of the school. He loved spending his breaks with John, it was always fun, even when the teacher scolded them one time when they came back to class completely covered in mud and all giggly. 

 

 

And one day it hit Sherlock that John was actually his only friend.  

 

 

That didn't bother him though. Why should it.   

 

 

But what Sherlock also noticed was that John on the other hand did in fact have a lot of friends. He just never played with any of them, even when they had invited him quite often. Somehow, Sherlock admired John for that. Not for staying with him all the time but for having the ability to make and keep so many friends. 

 

 

Still, John made him happy. He was always there for him, he listened to Sherlock and he helped him with whatever he needed help with. Even when Sherlock told him about the fear of John not being his friend anymore. Even when he was not able to stop sobbing and having him bring tissues.  

 

 

Since the first day he had been coming home with such a bright aura and a unbelievably big smile on his face that his parents became curious. When they had asked him before, he had always only mentioned John and everything that they did during the breaks they had spent on that day. His mother suggested inviting him to a sleepover and that was the first thing he asked John about on the next day. 

 

 

 

* 

 

 

 

 

On a Saturday morning, Sherlock heard the doorbell ring and rushed down the stairs only to be met by his mother who had the same idea as him. He smiled at her, nodded and opened the door. John's parents had driven John to his house and were now standing behind him just like proud parents always do in pictures, with their hands on both shoulders of their child and all that. John greeted him and his parents but Sherlock didn't really care because after a shot "Hi!" and a polite smile to John's parents he went and grabbed his hands and pulled him upstairs.   

 

 

Between a lot of laughing and stories about what they did that morning, Sherlock's mother came upstairs to bring them sandwiches and some orange juice. Both were doing something for school. At least they were trying to. Well, not really. They were actually just scribbling funny pictures onto almost every worksheet and giggling a lot but nobody needed to know that. Blankets and pillows were gathered from downstairs, a fort was built within seconds. 

 

 

"Sherlock, I've got something for you." John suddenly said when there was a not so interesting bit in the series that was on TV. 

 

 

"What is it John?" Sherlock asked interested. 

 

 

John climbed off the bed, crawled to his backpack and searched through it with all his might, throwing several things like a pillow and a sleeping bag into the other corner of the room. He took out a bundle of cords. 

 

 

"I've brought you some fairy lights..." He shrugged his shoulders lightly before continuing, "You talk a lot about the night sky when we're in school and looked so amazed when you told me of how you once saw it with your parents when you were on vacation in the mountains. And well, because I thought you weren't allowed to leave the house at night and go somewhere where you could see the stars... I thought I would bring you something to..." He shrugged again and turned his head away looked to the floor. "I don't know, I just- I thought you might like it..." 

 

 

And that was true. Sherlock did like fairy lights. He liked any kind of lights or sparkly things. A lot. He was a bit overwhelmed at the kind gesture. 

 

 

John looked up at him as like he was waiting for something.  

 

 

"Where should we put it up?" He asked. 

 

 

"Uh, I don't know" Sherlock looked around before continuing, "Do you think it's long enough for my whole room?" 

 

 

"Maybe, I don't know... let's find out." John smiled and started untying the cords while Sherlock rushed to the door.  

 

 

"I'll tell my mom to bring up some chairs, I'll be right back." 

 

 

"Okay, uhhmm..." John sounded overstrained. Sherlock turned around and chuckled at the sight because John now had cords hanging from his arms and twirled around his legs.  

 

 

"You'll be okay?" he asked supportively, not wanting to tease John.  

 

 

 He grinned brightly and shooed him away with a hand gesture. 

 

 

"Yup, even if it takes a while. Now go!"  

 

 

 

*  

 

 

 

 

About one and a half hours later Sherlock wondered why it took so long to simply put up fairy lights but didn't question it any further. His room looked absolutely beautiful, the fairy lights were sparkling everywhere and Sherlock was really grateful for John having come up with such an idea. Both were more than exhausted and wanted to eat something. They raced downstairs, where Sherlock's mom made both of them spaghetti.  

 

 

"Do you still want to watch a movie? It's late." Sherlock asked John while putting some more spaghetti onto his plate. 

 

 

"Yeah, why not." John twirled his fork to get as much spaghetti as possible on it. 

 

 

The ended up huddled together on Sherlock's bed, eating chocolate and crumbling with popcorn while Fining Nemo was playing.  

 

 

Both boys were too exhausted and decided that they can brush their teeth next morning, it was 10 p.m. already and they should go sleeping soon. 

 

 

Time passed quickly, and when the credits were over Sherlock got up to turn of the TV in his room. John was already sleeping, his pyjamas were definitely too big for him, Sherlock thought. He turned of the fairy lights and went back to his bed. Being as careful as possible, Sherlock climbed in next to John again and snuggled into his side, not even thinking of pulling out a sleeping bag and sleeping on his own. 

 

 

When he got woken up by Redbeard licking his face next morning, he couldn't help but erupt in laughter, waking up John next to him. Redbeard jumped onto the bed and drooled over the two boys, shoving his head into the cushions and blankets and tickling the boys until both ran out, laughing and out of breath. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo, chapter 2
> 
> still feeling like shit but who the hell cares. i re-read one third or fourth of the story, so feel free to find typos and grammar mistakes, idc :)
> 
> anyways, i'm sorry it took so long, i'll upload the next chapter asap (like i said i just need to proofread (haha) and then i'll upload it ^^)
> 
> thank you for the kudos and the sweet comments c:

It was the sixth day of the new year. Sherlock noticed that the Christmas music was still playing in the background as he was being lead through the intimidating crowds of London by his mom's hand. He looked up to her, capturing white puffy clouds escaping her mouth. 

 

"Mom?" he asked quietly, tugging her hand a bit. 

 

"Yes, sweetheart?" She stopped to turn around and smile at him. 

 

"Will we be there in time? I don't want John to wait." 

 

"Of course honey, just a few more minutes and we'll be there." She smiled again to reassure him of what she had spoken and squeezed his hand a bit before turning around again and pulling him with her. 

 

At the gate to the indoor skating rink, Sherlock looked around, but couldn't make out his best friend in the huge gathering of people inside. After his mom bought two tickets and lent two pairs of skates he rushed through the big glass door to the locker room. He looked around but still couldn't find a certain someone with fluffy blond hair. His mom helped him put on his skates and tied them carefully. 

 

"Is he here yet?" Sherlock asked, tapping his skates to the beat of a Christmas song he had heard earlier. 

 

"He's already inside, just like your dad. But wait-" his mom grabbed his tiny body that was just about to run towards the big hall and seated him back onto the bench. "Get dressed first." She chuckled. 

 

Sherlock pouted has she pulled a beanie (a big too big for a seven year old), pink knitted mittens and a soft scarf out of her purse and put them on him. 

 

He rushed towards the door which led to the rink and pushed it open as soon as it was in his reach. It didn't bother him that looked like a fat penguin. He just wanted to see John again, it had been too long. 

 

He spotted John on one of the benches that were placed all around the rink and stepped over the bags that blocked his way. 

 

On the last meters towards his friend, Sherlock almost tripped and fell before falling into John's arms. Sherlock whined. 

 

"Jooooooooohn!" He clung onto the others jacket and buried his face inside it. 

 

John chuckled but slung his arms around Sherlock nevertheless. "It's only been like two weeks, Sherlock." He laughed even harder when Sherlock shook his head. 

 

"But still, John." Sherlock pouted and looked up. 

 

His father ruffled through Sherlock's hair. 

 

"Happy Birthday!" He said fondly. John hugged him even tighter as he repeated the words. His father promised him that they'll go have a hot chocolate after going ice skating. 

 

So Sherlock went and grabbed John's hand and pulled both of them towards the skating rink. Not even 4 seconds after stepping onto the ice, Sherlock lost his balance and fell. He had an excuse though because he hadn't been ice skating in almost 2 years, not that he was a talented skater before but when John invited him to go ice skating just because, Sherlock immediately agreed. 

 

Sherlock carefully placed his skates on the ice again, reaching for the handrail right next to him to pull him up again. John tried to help by grabbing his winter coat on both sides, and just pulling it on both sides, which just made things more difficult for Sherlock. But he was thankful nonetheless when he could finally stand again. John held out his hand and grinned. 

 

"Come on, I don’t want you to fall again. This day needs to be perfect, you're getting seven years old and I don't want you to have bruises on your knees.." 

 

"Thank you!" Sherlock smiled brightly and took his hand. 

 

All these large dark coats were intimidating, but at least he had John's hand. And just like his mom, John led him and made sure Sherlock wouldn't get lost. 

 

Both of them got a hot chocolate while taking a break. John happily told him about his vacation with his parents, even though they only were in Manchester for a few days. 

 

"At least you went somewhere! It was boring with my parents. But still, you should've seen the light lit streets!" Sherlock pouted. 

 

"We'll go there together next Christmas, alright?" John asked. "Besides, I got you something..."

 

John took out a nicely wrapped present.

 

Sherlock's eyes widened as he took it. "You- you know you didn't have to..." he whispered as he eyed it suspiciously.

 

"Come on, open it up!" John grinned.

 

Sherock ripped of the green wrapping and looked at the book. It had a black cover and a golden title called "Mysteries". He opened it and found it was another book about galaxies. He looked at John and almost teared up.

 

 

After cleaning of the milk-moustaches of each others faces and giggling loudly because the view was just too amusing, both went onto the rink again. 

 

It began to snow. Not these thick and huge snowflakes, they were smaller ones which made the Christmas feeling come up again. The dark sky mixed with the Christmas music and all of the lights was just beautiful. 

 

 

* 

 

 

About one week later, when school started again, John walked through school like on any other day. Class was going to begin in about 20 minutes, so he still had some time. He still came early each day just to make Sherlock happy. Only this time he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He rushed over to the lost-and-found box which was placed directly in front of the school's office. It wasn't really a lost-and-found box though, because anyone could literally just put some clothes inside that they didn't need anymore and wanted others to be happy with. He picked out what caught his eye seconds ago and smiled to himself before continuing to the classroom. John hoped Sherlock would like it. 

 

John opened the door silently, not wanting to startle the boy reading at his desk. 

 

Sherlock read a lot. More than a lot. Whenever him and John would be meeting up, Sherlock came earlier than appointed only to keep on reading a little from one of the thousands of books he had at home. The sparkle in his eyes when he spotted something interesting in one of the pages couldn't go unnoticed. He often told John about what he read, most of them were books about astronomy, like the first book he saw him read, others were about Biology and topics John didn't understand yet. 

 

Sherlock's head shot up, his lips forming into a smile as he saw the John standing at the door, hands behind his back. He shot him a suspicious glance before greeting him normally. 

 

"Hi, John." His eyes were sleepy. He must have been reading till midnight again. 

 

"Hey Sherlock." John made a tiny wave-like-gesture with his left hand and went over to their shared desk to put down his schoolbag. Quickly, he took a step to his left and pulled the hat over Sherlock's head down to his ears. The other tensed at the sudden action but began to laugh when he took it of and looked at the grey deerstalker in his hands. 

 

"Wh- What is this?" Sherlock asked confused while trying to hold back his amused laugh. 

 

"I hope you like it, I thought it would suit you when I saw it." John swung his arms around Sherlock from behind and let his head rest on the others shoulder. 

 

"Yes." Sherlock said quietly, put the deerstalker back on his head and continued fondly, "I do like it." 

 

The classroom became fuller with each minute passing and soon the teacher entered as well. Why did you even have to go to school so early in second grade. Well, they had art on Tuesday mornings, so it wasn't as bad as the other days, but still. 

 

Sherlock didn't put of his hat for one second during school. Even when the teacher told him to do so he refused with all his might. 

 

"Hey Sherlock!" A voice yelled from behind his back during one period. Sherlock turned around. It was Anderson. 

 

"What do you want, Anderson." He said monotonously, slowly turning back to his desk. 

 

"Nice cappy you've got there!" Some other kids giggled while he added a quiet "And it's still Philip for you, little guy." 

 

John looked up at him and shook his head slowly. Sherlock turned his head and looked at the most stupid person he had seen in his entire life. 

 

"Anderson. Please, could you be more stupid? If you can't spot the difference between a cappy, a top hat and a deerstalker then just don’t say anything at all." 

 

"Hey, of course I can-!" 

 

"Anderson, don't talk out loud, you lower the IQ of the whole class." 

 

With this he turned around and ignored the attempts of Anderson showing of his "Knowledge". 

 

Other students gave him tiny comments about him looking ridiculous, but Sherlock really couldn't care less. He was not going to take it of. It was from John. And John would surely be sad if he rejected a gift from him. Never ever would he even think about doing something like that. Things from John were precious, and Sherlock cherished each and every little item the other gave him so far. 

 

 

* 

 

 

When John came to school the next day, he quickly rushed through the school hallways to his classroom. Something had happened. He pushed open the door and looked at the boy with the curly hair. 

 

"Sherlock!!" He said, completely out of breath, and placed his hands on his knees. 

 

Said boy looked at him with widened eyes. "John, is everything okay?" 

 

"Yes I am, but there's this thing and I think that I kind of need your help because-" 

 

Sherlock got curious. 

 

John let himself fall into the seat next to Sherlock and looked up at him again. 

 

"We've got a case." 

 

 

After school was over, both went to John's neighbourhood. They stood before the pole and read the paper which was neatly taped to it. Sherlock eyes began to sparkle as he read the first two, thick printed words: 

 

"PREGNANT CAT MISSING" 

 

There was a picture of a chubby white cat with black-greyish spots printed under it. 

 

A warm feeling settled in his chest. 

 

Suddenly, there were so many ideas on how it could have possibly escaped or went missing and where the cat could be now. Sometimes, Sherlock had the feeling that he knew John's neighbourhood better than his own, all the places to hide, all the great trees to climb. He spent so much time with him and they were outside most of the time. Sherlock never had anything against it. He loved the nature. And apparently John did too. 

 

"It's the cat of Mr and Mrs Gree-" 

 

"Greenwood. I know, dummy. She always bring us cookies when she hears us playing outside" Sherlock grinned. John rolled his eyes but chuckled nonetheless. 

 

The ideas shot into his head one by one. It could have escaped and ran to one of the other gardens next to the house. Maybe it was lying under a hedge or something. But the owners would have already asked their neighbours and looked there already. There was a park nearby. Maybe it was somewhere under a trunk. Or in the tunnel on the playground in the park. There was a small river nearby too. Where should they head of first? If they went to the wrong place first, it may go away from the one it was currently hiding in. And it was pregnant. It would go somewhere where the ground was comfortable and it would find shelter from rain. Somewhere to settle. Maybe she was- 

 

"Sherlock?" John pulled him back to reality. 

 

"I know, this is a real challenge right?" He smiled happily. 

 

And for some reason Sherlock was all fired up inside. He was definitely going to find that cat. No matter what. He grabbed John's hand and ran off. 

 

Two hours and muddy clothes later, Sherlock ticked of another box on the little notebook he always kept with himself for emergency notes. The boys had checked all gardens on the street and the one next to it. Everyone was so kind to let them into their property and mess around in their garden. They crawled on the soil to look under terraces and behind bushes and even went to the playground to check the tunnel. They made a short break on the swing and pushed each in turns. The cat was nowhere to be found. But that was okay. Tomorrow had yet to come. 

 

 

But somehow John didn't show up. 

 

 

* 

 

 

Sherlock was sitting in class impatiently. His teacher read them a short-story, it was the end of the day and school went out at half past twelve. They still had two more hours. Sherlock kept on glancing over to the empty desk next to him. 

 

Normally John always knew a day before if he would be sick on the next one. He would call Sherlock in the afternoon to tell him they wouldn't be able to meet the next day. But today Sherlock found himself reading until school started. And he was a bit surprised to look up once the bell rang because normally John was the one to pull him out of the fascinating texts and sparkling worlds printed in one of his many books. 

 

His head was full of worries. What if he was seriously sick? Or worse, what if something had happened to him on the way to school? He sure was hoping that everything was alright. He'll pay him a visit when school would be over. He had to bring him the sheets and the homework they got anyways. 

 

When the bell rang for the tiny break in between two classes, he got out his water bottle to drink something. As his eyes scanned through the room he saw various children talking to each other and laughing at each others puns. Sherlock looked at his worksheet. 

 

1) Read the short-story above. 

 

2) Fill in these blanks with information. 

 

He already did that after reading the text in his pace. 30 minutes ago. Normally, Sherlock would give John his answers and explained them to him silently by scribbling little hints on the worksheet with his pencil. They would draw something together. Each and every sketch drawn by them ended with a weird monster-jelly like creature, some comic expressions and funny comments as to why the teacher looked so weird today. 

 

Everybody else went back to their seats and listened to the task the teacher was reading out loud now. 

 

I hope John isn't as bored as I am. 

 

 

* 

 

 

After Sherlock got of three bus stops earlier than usual he ran down the big road. He rang the all so familiar bell of the little house a few times. After John's mother opened the door she leant into the doorframe. 

 

"Hello Sherlock." she greeted him with a polite smile. 

 

"Hello Mrs. Watson."he said and smiled right back. 

 

"Is everything alright with John?" 

 

He tilted his head a bit to the side to be able to peek into the apartment. No sounds where to be heard. Not even the TV was playing. 

 

"Yes, he's alright. All of the sudden he wasn't feeling that well this morning, so we decided that it would be for the best if he stayed at home today." She looked at him reassuringly. 

 

"Can I talk to him? I've brought him the notes from school and the homework." He put down his bag, took out the sheets he had carefully bound together after class and handed them to John's Mother. 

 

"I'm sorry Sherlock, but John isn't really feeling well at the moment. He needs some rest but will come back to school tomorrow. I'll give him the notes for school. Thank you very much for coming, I'm sure John will appreciate that very much." She said with a caring voice. 

 

"Okay..." His eyelids suddenly felt a lot heavier than just a few moments ago. "Tell him I said hi." 

 

It was weird that she didn't invite him in as usual. But Sherlock ignored that as he walked back to the bus stop. 

 

Tomorrow he'll be better, he said to himself. 

 

 

When he got pulled out of his book about microbiology on the next morning it was because John's gentle voice. 

 

"Hey Sherlock." 

 

Sherlock looked up at the boy immediately and a big wave of relief rushed over him. John still looked a bit exhausted, judging by the dark circles under his eyes and his tousled hair he didn't sleep well again. The small boy shot up from his seat and ran directly into the elder's arm. John smiled fondly at him when he looked up again after what seemed like hours in the warm embrace. 

 

"Hey." Sherlock replied happily. "How are you feeling? What happened yesterday?" 

 

Both made their way back to their shared desk as John explained Sherlock what had happened. 

 

"I woke up with a really bad headache and my limbs were hurting a bit. I told my mom how I was feeling and she told me to stay home for the day. I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you anything yesterday, my mom told me I should just rest in bed the whole bloody day." 

 

John took out his books. 

 

"You don’t have to be sorry for anything John. Are you better today?" 

 

"Yes, I guess everything has just been a bit stressful in the last few days but that day rest was really great." John grinned before he continued, "I drew you something after my mom told me that you brought me the things we got in school and I wanted to thank you for that." 

 

When Sherlock took a closer look at the paining given to him he realized that John must have problems drawing when he's not feeling well. No, not quite, because had problems drawing in general. A simple object like a house was drawn askew and in completely awful colours. At least what seemed like John and himself looked a bit normal. He had drawn him with a blue scarf, the one Sherlock went ice skating with, and he himself had blonde locks and a bright yellow rain coat. It wasn't even raining in the picture. And the little purple dots that were drawn all over the window were probably- well, what ever. What an idiot. Sherlock was about to roll his eyes mentally but when he saw the way John stood there, completely unsure about what Sherlock would think of him and his slightly cheesy drawing, his cheeks began to shimmer in pink and he quickly put the piece of paper in his bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!!! uhh, again, i'm sorry...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuck me for not updating in so long. like seriously. i am not capaple of getting one single fic done. jeeeez.
> 
> i've got the feeling that i'll never ever get this done. i know that i could've worked it out more but then i probably just wouldn't get anywhere with it. well yea. 
> 
> not really proofread, i had the feeling that if i read this one more single time i am going to throw up (can someone relate? it's always like this)
> 
> @nighttdust i am sorry. for the time and for my story too... *smiles creepily, that smile you always have in the pictures you send me*

"Okay!" Sherlock said loudly to gain Johns attention. School was already over and they were back at Johns neighbourhood. The cat was still missing. 

 

 

"We were in the gardens and at the park, and if the cat had crossed one of the gardens then she would have been seen already. Okay, where else could we go? I don't believe that she'd be out in the open anyways because the weather got a lot worse yesterday so maybe she could be-" 

 

 

"Sherlock." He put both hands on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "Calm down, will you?" 

 

 

Sherlock stared at him a few more seconds without saying anything before freeing himself out of John's grip. His brain was working full speed. 

 

 

"I've got a plan. Follow me." 

 

 

John knew that he couldn't really interfere with whatever Sherlock was up to anyway so he followed him wordlessly. 

 

 

They stepped over tree-trunks and looked under benches at the side of the walkway as they walked along the little river. Before Sherlock could trip over the branches that were lying everywhere, John pulled him closer and took his hand. Sherlock looked at the boy for a moment before smiling unconsciously and continuing walking and chatting with him. They were laughing a little too loud about how the clumsy geese fell over when they tried to clean themselves on the other waterside and were shot a few annoyed glances from an old married couple trying to have a quiet walk. Both just laughed harder when they heard the grumble about leaving and going somewhere without annoying children. 

 

 

When they passed a gigantic wooden bench, Sherlock noticed a small white fluffy ball curled up underneath it. And it had spots on its fur. He tugged John's hand carefully for him to turn his head this way. He pointed his finger silently at the cat and quietly snuck himself towards it. It seemed to be asleep. John followed him, being careful not to step on anything to wake the cat and crouched in front of the bench to look at it. No wounds or something else were to be seen. Sherlock carefully extended his hand to pet the ball of fluff. It abruptly pulled up its head at the sudden touch but didn't move at all. It was freezing cold but began purring when Sherlock crawled its neck. He picked it up carefully and tugged it under his warm trench coat. He looked at John with a satisfied smile on his face and stood up, hands holding the cat tightly. John nodded at him and both went home in silence, not wanting to disturb the cat but looking at each other occasionally nonetheless. 

 

 

* 

 

 

The two of them celebrated John's birthday with a wild sleepover full of pillow fights and cookies in April. School became a bit more tiring towards the summer break. But then it was there. Finally. The weather was exceptionally great and John and his parents were over at Sherlock's house. You could smell big barbeque in the garden inside the house and it made John and Sherlock hungrier with each minute. 

 

 

"What do you think school will be like when we're in ninth or tenth grade?" John asked. They we're lying lazily on Sherlock's bed and staring at the ceiling, limbs tangled and tummies grumbling every now and then. 

 

 

Sherlock could always sense if John was worrying about something. 

 

 

"I don't know, but I wouldn't stress myself if I were you John. You're great in school and you'll pass each and every class." In his opinion, he had absolutely nothing to worry about. 

 

 

"You can say that so easily Sherlock, you don't need to worry about school at all. You're a genius, did you forget that?" John chuckled slightly and nudged his shoulder against Sherlock's arm. 

 

 

"That doesn't matter! We're talking about you right now." Sherlock turned around to face him. 

 

 

John hummed slightly to signal him that he had heard what the other said. 

 

 

"Please don't worry about the future." Sherlock smiled and John couldn't help but smile as well. "I'm sure we'll dislike the teachers more than we do already." 

 

 

Sherlock never told John about how he though what would happen if they spent the rest of their time in school together. His only fear was one of them would move somewhere far away. Sherlock saw enough movies and read enough books to know that this sort of stuff happened quite often in school. And he also thought about how it could possibly be if their friendship would remain after school. They should definitely travel somewhere together sometime. He smiled at the thought. 

 

 

* 

 

 

His mom called both boys from downstairs when the food was ready. They rushed to the table outside as soon as they saw the variety of dishes neatly placed on it and almost ran into Redbeard passing by. The food was perfect. 

 

 

"Ah!!" Sherlock heard John yelp in pain. He held his left shoulder an bent forward. 

 

 

"Oh my gosh!" Both Sherlock's and John's parents shot up simultaneously. John's mother ran inside and the other three rushed over to the boy. Sherlock saw John squeezing his eyes shut and tried to comfort him. His breath was shaking and his body was shaking. 

 

 

"John, what is wrong? What is hurting? How can we help?" He asked the boy frantically before his parents could. 

 

 

"He's probably got a cramp in his shoulder again." John's father explained and grabbed John's hand caringly. 

 

 

John's mother came outside again with a glass of juice in one hand and a pain killer in the other. John let go of his shoulder to take the medicine and leant back. 

 

 

"Are you alright?!" Sherlock asked shocked. 

 

 

John looked up at him with a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." 

 

 

Slowly, he let go of his arm and reached out to his glass to drink some more water. Sherlock couldn't take of his eyes, worry still clearly written all over his face. John felt his gaze on him, quickly looked over to him and put his beverage onto the table. 

 

 

"It happens sometimes. The cramps. We even went to the doctors to get me checked up they said to me that there was nothing out of the norm." He glanced at his parents. 

 

 

"But so what! It's just annoying" John smiled again and put some more barbequed vegetables, that, in all honesty, looked utterly disgusting, onto his plate. Sherlock decided to take some more food himself as well. 

 

 

*

 

 

The garden looked beautiful under the bright blue sky. The sun was burning down onto them when Sherlock's parents decided to get inside and talk some more. They gathered the bowls and dishes on the table and carried them inside. 

 

 

It was an unbelievingly hot day today, Sherlock thought. Redbeard was sitting next to the table, waving his tail excitedly. In front of his paws lay a blue ball, the one he had always loved playing with. Sherlock looked at John. 

 

 

"Do you want to play a bit?" He grinned while he lifted the ball from the ground. Redbeard's eyes followed the actions of the ball excitedly as he waved it around a bit.   
John's mood lifted visibly and he nodded. 

 

 

"Run around a bit, let's see when he'll be able to catch the ball." Sherlock added. 

 

 

"Ready, set... Go!" 

 

 

Even though Sherlock really wasn't that good at sports and throwing things around, he had played with Redbeard almost every day and he knew exactly how to trick him. The first throw landed directly in John's hands. The other seemed to be getting fired up more and more as he saw Redbeard running towards him with incredible speed. John waited until Redbeard came a little nearer to throw it back in one big bow. Sherlock never knew he could throw that well. 

 

 

Both boys ran around joyfully, laughing when Redbeard already started running when they deluded throwing the ball into one direction and lying down and closing their eyes when they were too exhausted. Redbeard's little barks when he felt betrayed and the sound when his paws hit the floor while he was running after the ball made Sherlock happy. He loved Redbeard so much. Once the ball got caught in the hedge again, he waited, back faced to John and Redbeard. 

 

 

"Ready?" He yelled over his shoulder to John. 

 

 

"I don't know where it will land, be sure to catch it thought. Redbeard won't give it back so easily once he's caught it." He grinned. 

 

 

"I won't let him catch it, Sherlock!" The other chuckled. 

 

 

"Alright! Ready, set-", Sherlock waited a second, "GO!" 

 

 

He threw he ball with all his might and heard Redbeard running away to his left. Sherlock really wasn't the best at throwing things. 

 

 

When he turned around to watch him running of. He chuckled and turned around while saying, "He'll never give it bac-" 

 

 

Sherlock didn’t realize what happened at first but his throat got dry when he saw John lying on the ground motionlessly. What. What?! 

 

 

His mind went blank. 

 

 

His heart felt like it had turned to ice, cold streams started flooding through his body and he became short-winded. Tears were streaming down his cheeks before he even noticed them. He ran to the motionless body as fast as he could. His sobbing became harder and his hands felt numb as he kneeled down beside John and carefully shook his shoulders. 

 

 

"John...?" He asked quietly while choking back a sob. His stomach was twisting and turning and his mind suddenly felt heavy. Why didn't John react? He shook him harder and cupped his face. His cold fingers were trembling and his vision was blurry. What was he supposed to do? 

 

 

"John!" He screamed out loudly so maybe John could hear him. The sobs became uncontrollable. He took John's hand and pressed it to his chest. Why wouldn't he wake up?! 

 

 

"Please John, wake up! I- I need you!" Sherlock put his forehead on the others chest and let out a painful sob, tears wetting the others t-shirt. He squeezed the others hand. "Please!" Another tear ran down his nose as he gasped for air. 

 

 

Sherlock's breath was shaky as he cried out, "What can I do to make you wake up again?! PLEASE WAKE UP!!" 

 

 

Sherlock heard Redbeard's barking becoming louder as his dog probably spread towards him. He couldn't tell, his eyes were unable to move from John. He didn't notice his parents pacing over to him and barely realized the ambulance officers separating John's and his' hand. 

 

 

* 

 

 

Sherlock woke up to a steady beeping. He opened his eyes slowly, then all at once. He had been lying on a bed of chairs. As he scanned the room everything came back to him. 

 

 

The fear. The fear of loosing him. What would happen if he had lost him. What if that was the last day he spent with him? Oh god, Sherlock thought and tears were streaming down his face again. 

 

 

Sherlock sat up and put his head in his hands to let out a big sob, he wiped away the tears with his sweater that covered the back of his had. 

 

 

The beeping was still present in the background. Sherlock turned his head to the right and faced the big bed that seemed a bit intimidating because only a child lay in there. John lay in there. His memories were still a bit messy. 

 

 

A silent mumble made his eyes shoot up. The blankets in the bed ruffled as he watched John turn to the side. Sherlock let out a small sigh. He stood up from the chair and pulled it alongside with him next to John's bed. 

 

 

"John?" He asked carefully once he was seated. 

 

 

John looked so peaceful. There was something about the sight of John being safe that made Sherlock feel warm inside. He moved the chair closer. 

 

 

"John?" He said a bit louder this time. 

 

 

"John, are you awake? John..." He placed his head on the blankets. 

 

 

"John, please..." His lips began quivering and he squeezed his eyes shut. 

 

 

"Please..." This was all his fault. Why didn't he notice before? Why didn't he do anything? 

 

 

"Sherlock...?" A soft voice asked sleepily. "Sherlock!" 

 

 

"John! Oh my god, are you al-...right?" Sherlock's voice 

 

 

John shook his head a few times as if he were in a nightmare and curled up into a ball. Sherlock let out a soft sigh and let his head drop onto the blanket again. He smiled to himself. At least he was alright. 

 

 

* 

 

 

Sherlock did not move from his seat in John's room. He and his parents had been in the hospital for hours. 

 

 

A short while after Sherlock fell asleep next to Johns bed, both were woken up by a nurse and John was took somewhere while he and his parents had to wait in some white hallway. 

 

 

When Sherlock thought of hospitals he would always remember them as extremely interesting. So many people were looking so unbelievingly strange, but in a cool way, and everyone was doing some cool thing with silver tools in their hands and strange cords around their necks. He had been there so many times, being the weak child he is, to take blood samples and some other things he couldn't really remember. But now, the image of hospitals being a creative and playful place kind of vanished in the depth of his mind. 

 

 

Disgust was the name of the feeling that went through his veins. It was weird being here when you weren't the one to be treated. It was scary. Not normal. 

 

 

* 

 

 

"The doctors said that I should stay here for a little longer to recover. I must have gotten some injuries or, well I don't exactly know but my parent said I'll be out in no time." John smiled at Sherlock. His eyes turned into crescents as Sherlock smiled back at him. 

 

 

The younger boy stood there, still a bit shocked 

 

 

"John?" 

 

 

"What is it?" 

 

 

"Do you want to go on an adventure with me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, uhh
> 
> thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you very much for reading!! ^-^ comments and kudos are appreciated :)


End file.
